The present invention relates to a method of preparing novel model animals for asthma with constant bronchial hyper- or hyposensitivity.
Since bronchial sensitivity in asthma patients is accelerated, there is a need of diagnosis of asthma by measuring degree of bronchial sensitivity as an indication of severity of asthmatic symptom. Therefore, a development of model animals with bronchial hypersensitivity is hoped for the study of human bronchial asthma.
In various experimental animals, guinea pigs have bronchial hypersensitivity and so allergic reaction can be easily induced. Generally, guinea pigs have been widely used as allergic and asthmatic model animals.
However, there is a wide range of individual difference in bronchial sensitivity of guinea pigs, and breeding of guinea pigs is difficult because of the longer duration of pregnancy and smaller litter size compared with rats and mice. Also because of the tendency toward inbreeding depression, it is extremely difficult to establish a strain of guinea pigs as animal models for human diseases. Therefore, the strain of guinea pigs with constant hypersensitivity has not been established yet.